Gettinold

Man, just my opinion but your HT looked pretty darn good. Much more natural than the piece. I think in time you will find that you will opt for letting YOUR hair be your hair. A little thinness will be no big deal in a few years, especially when you wear it right. The piece will become a ball and chain and you will feel a ton better. Not trying to sound negative, but I think your HT was a success.

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate them. First off, congrats on moving past the "future" HT doc phase, Blake.

I have considered SMP, and will look further into it, this may be the most cost effective and sensible solution. I would rather get a few more grafts there, but as mentioned, I don't want to throw all my available grafts at the crown if I may need them down the line if my front starts to go. I'm not in any hurry at this point and wondering if maybe a small BHT procedure would help, although the $$ issue is the main thing with that.at this point. I sent the pic to one of Dr. Charles's reps so maybe see hat happens with that too. Thanks again for all the help, this forum is a must for anyone considering a procedure of any kind.

I've had 2 crown HT's, totaling about 3200 grafts. Dr. Charles did a good job, but my hair is so fine it's had to really get great coverage. There's definitely more hair than when I started (see pics in my photo albums) but as you can see there is still a significant bald spot. The lighting in the pic sucks, but you can imagine what its like when there is full light. Still wearing a hat everywhere or using concealer if I have to look classy. With 3200 in the crown already, I don't think it would be wise to dedicate any more remaining grafts, just wondering what other options may exist...including maybe being happy with what I have, just hoped for a bit better coverage after all was said and done.

You have some nice improvement, but if I were you I would have another 2000 transplanted into the crown and start taking propecia....or you will most likely continue to lose hair in the crown. I would think doctors should think twice about performing crown transplants on patients that refuse to take propecia.

 

ps: what is your age?

I'm 34, had my first HT at 32..I understand your view, but the thing is, when I had my first HT, my crown was not thin or thinning, it was BALD. Dead, shiny, smooth BALD. The crown was done and starting to move forward, other than some shed a few months after my 2nd HT, I haven't lost ant more hair. Propecia would have made no difference at all. The problem with another 2000 grafts in my crown (other than the extra $6-7k) would be that I'd have over 5000 grafts in my crown alone..doesn't leave much for the rest of my head, should I need it down the road.

Thought about that, was told my follicles were dead though....Not a fan of drugs or being on them for the rest of my life, may have to. If I don't have enough grafts, a BHT may be an option...my bank account would disagree though.

sorry to hear your stuggling with you crown

i think fue with bisigna and Lorenzo would b optimal in getting a result your looking for

Lorenzo is amazing

I already have over 3000 grafts in my crown, don't think it would be wise to put any more in when I will probably need them down the road...

3200 should have made a huge difference. Maybe try a different style? Maybe the grafts were not angled optimally for coverage? I have never been a fan of Dr. Charles work. Nice enough guy but does not impress me at all with the work he posts.

I've tried a few different ones, different stylists trying to "add" coverage, over the past 2 years...no matter what, my crown is thin and frustrating...definitely not what I was expecting from my investment. I've seen several good results from Dr. Charles, just not sure what happened here, it's almost like the second transplant didn't yield..

Well, 11 months in here....no progress and last night my girlfriend of 9 months brought up my thinning crown and suggested a buzz in the future. It was a huge kick in the nuts after 2 transplants and 11 grand was spent to avoid that...can't tell her I can't because of the scar in the back of my head. Pretty frustrated at this point, I still have a sizeable bald spot and not expecting any miracles in the next few months. There's definitely more hair there than there was originally, but I'd really hoped for better coverage from 3200 grafts, especially since it would be unwise to put any more in the crown..

Get some Caboki in the meantime dude, it will help tons if you're worried about people noticing..a little shake and a little hairspray and you're good to go...

I'd keep a razor away from immature grafts....

Stop worrying and accept that YES it will happen, make peace with it, and realize that you are embarking on a "big picture" journey that will be worth it in the end. It's temporary and will be forgotten about within a few months. Easiest/best way to go. If it doesn't happen, you are one of the few lucky ones...but don't count on it.

I looked at you album and you have definitely come a long way, front is looking really good! I agree the crown is a stubborn area to fill and is not known as the black hole of transplants for nothing. However, I think if you were to put another 1500 grafts in there you would be very close to getting the coverage you are after. Also bear in mind that your long hair probably makes your crown seem worse than it is.

 

On a related point, I do wonder if a lot of surgeons lack the skill to perform surgery on the crown in comparison to the hairline? You see some great coverage from Lorenzo on the crown, but not many other doctors spring to mind.

 

Everyone is obsessed with what doctors perform the best hairlines, but often little attention is paid to the doctors which perform the best crown work.....I'm sure it must be an art in itself, no?

Agreed-it's definitely a different technique, and I'd say that Dr. Charles has it down..if you look at the immediate post op photos, you can see the natural "spin" and angle a crown has. That seems like something that would take a lot of practice to achieve...but on the flip side, that same pattern makes the crown much more difficult to "fill in".

Thanks for the replies:

Well aware of the fact that the 2nd transplant takes longer to come to fruition than the first, but I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that in the next 6 months I will have a 20 year old's crown with no skin showing at all...I've definitely come a long way, no doubt, and even if progress stopped here I know that the hair transplants were a success, just not exactly what I had really hoped for...it was mainly a general question of "how much is too much" and "what should the expectation be" for crown transplants.

Just my uneducated opinion: You already have the scar, it's done, why spend the extra $ and low yield risk for FUE? Not to mention that when you shave your donor area for FUE, your scar will be very noticeable for a few months. There are plenty of people here who know way more than me, but that's what I would say..

2 options:

1. Dude is an educated troll. He knows that the pictures he posts are not logical, and tries to be a douche to everyone who comments. No life.

2. Dude is just an a-hole. If this is the case, here is my advice: Go to the first doctor that is willing to operate on you. Get as many grafts as you can to attain your goals. When you lose more hair over the next 10 years, you will look completely stupid. Only then, not by choice, will your realize that there are many other things in life that matter way more that a NW0.

Thank me in 10 years.

I lost ALL the hair in my crown throughout my 20's, so naturally, this is where I wanted to start my HT journey. From my own personal experience and a lot of the photos that I 've seen, it seems the crown just turns into a never ending battle for desired coverage while the rest of the head takes off running (see my photo album, the small patch in my hairline was almost immediate [well, 4 months] gratification). I'm 9 months into my second transplant and I'm still not to the point where I can go out without a hat or lot of concealer in my crown. There's obviously a lot of growth, no question about that, but I'm not willing to keep pumping grafts (and several thousand more dollars...already $11k into this) into the crown when I may need them in the future...opinions, comments?

Please don't take this is as a crack on my doctor, I had a highly recommended surgeon who did a great job...this is more on the nature of crown transplants themselves..

Photo 1: Pre HT crown

Photo 2: 1700 graft HT at 14 months

Photo 3: Second HT-1500 grafts at 9 months (current)

btw- the 500 in my hairline grew in fast and great. The crown is a wreck.

6 months in-no noticeable growth. Super pissed. Trying to stay positive. Not easy.

By the way, a bit of advice..I'll save you a ton of time and money. A full head of hair won't help you in any rank of life if your personality sucks.

Did you miss the part where I said I've already looked through them?

You're going to have trouble getting help from people if you're acting like a douchebag.

I booked my flight for the next day after HT,I think that's the best time to fly back or you have to stay at least 1 week.there will be swelling which starts at day 2-3 and will take around a week to go away.believe me the worst thing will be travelling with a swollen face it can look VERY strange and ugly and will draw a lot of attention.

so flying back day 3-4 will be the worst thing one can do.

you can stay for a week and that's good for follow up check with the clinic etc,but will be very boring and tiresome (and expensive) since you will have to stay in the hotel all the time not being able to go out looking like that.

 

upon arrival I told the custom that I'm going for medical procedure and had a copy of the surgery appointment with me just in case (& they didn't ask for).

 

when I was returning the next day after surgery,I asked my doctor to give me a letter stating that I've had surgery on my scalp and the clinic put a bandana on my head for protection and coverage.

that did the trick at airport security when they asked me to remove the bandana,they just scanned my head with their handheld metal detector and let me go.

even if they refuse to let you go without removing bandana/hat,you can ask for a private room,they have cabins there where you and one of them go in and you can remove your head covering there.

I flew out the day after and proudly took my hat off in security and made funny faces. I love attention , and people stayed the heck away from me.

I know, I know...not really trying to get too concerned till about 6 months....just staying positive..

I know it's early and the worst thing to do is stress myself out, but I am a tad bit concerned. In March '12, I had 1700 FUT put in my almost totally bald crown, and after 4 months, there was significant growth. It was pretty thin, so I wanted to thicken it up, so in May '13, I had another 1500 grafts put in. Well, the 4 month mark has come, and I don't think I see ANY growth. In fact, it may look a tad worse than it did before the second transplant. Is this normal?

btw, there are pics in my profile page, nothing too recent though.

People overthink this stuff too much. My post-op instructions say that you can return to activities, including lifting, 7 days after operation. I personally took it easy until my stitches were out, but picked right back up from there. Did this for 2 HT's.

there's so much of this crap out there, it's all garbage. Dead follicles are DEAD. I remember wasting money on some foreign miracle herb treatment years ago.